Journal of quality in clinical practice
-
A 1 year (1995) retrospective audit of all patients who were discharged or died, with a primary diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was conducted at Auburn Hospital, a level 4 district hospital in Sydney's western suburbs. After their first echocardiogram (ECG), 21 patients of 129 patients who had a primary diagnosis of AMI in the Emergency Department at this time were given thrombolytic therapy. For eight patients there was a time delay of over 60 min to commencement of thrombolytic therapy. ⋯ This study highlights areas of unnecessary delay in patients receiving thrombolytic therapy and shows that these delays can be reduced by the implementation of relatively simple strategies by medical and nursing staff. Time delays from the development of symptoms (usually chest pain) to arrival at triage were recorded when such a time was specified in the clinical notes. The median delay from the development of chest pain to triage was 73 min.